Star Wars: A Fractured Galaxy
by EyeoftheProphet
Summary: After the defeat of the Empire on Endor, the Empire lies broken but not defeated. Out of the turmoil rises a young General Hux, who reforms the Imperial Remnants into the First Order. However, dark forces and rivaling Grand Moffs from across the galaxy are taking advantage of the power vacuum also. Witness the rise of the First Order from the ashes of the Empire...
1. Star Wars Episode VIV:Fractured Galaxy

STAR WARS  
Episode VI.V

Fractured Galaxy

After the destruction of the Emperor and the Second Death Star, the Rebellion has maintained its momentum, sparking rebellions in former Imperial strongholds across the galaxy. Under the leadership of the newly appointed General Leia Organa, the former Rebel Alliance has been reformed into the Resistance, a formidable fighting force.

Considered Resistance propaganda, the death of the Emperor has not been officially recognized by the remaining Grand Moffs and what once started as a limited civil war has broken out into a galactic-wide conflict. The bold, militaristic Grand Moff Hano, a leader of the Imperial Navy, wishes to return order to the galaxy and save the Empire. Rival Moff's however, have put in jeopardy Hano's plans and have separated the once united Imperial Navy.

With traitors and deception on all sides, Hano is forced to crush the traitorous Moffs all while engaging with the highly coordinated Resistance. Without orders from Imperial High Command, Hano's fleet lays dormant above the graveyard moons of Bogden as the time runs to save the crumbing Imperial forces from falling apart….


	2. Out of the Darkness, Into the Ashes

Author's Notes

Thanks for taking the time to read!

One thing I wanted to clear up is that I will be posting links to youtube for a musical effect. Of course this is optional and you can enjoy reading in peace. I will place the links in parenthesis and add a time as well if necessary such as (www .you tube watch?blahblah Time:Time). Thanks! 

Chapter 1

(www. Youtube watch?v=7TevVtGZPoE)

Admiral Haydrean's boots clicked on the dark pristine floor of the command bridge of the Imperial warship _Demise_ , avoiding the mouse droids that were dashing around the floor in a flurry. There was chaos on the bridge as officers melded in and out of offices and battle stations attempting to assess the situation at hand. He quickly shuffled toward the large silver door of the main bridge. As the door opened and he passed the guards, Haydrean could see a tall, well kept, balding older man in his 40's. He was surrounded by a mass of boisterous and inquisitive officers and a silent, single white stormtrooper captain. The older man dressed in a sleek black officer uniform, remaining unfazed as he stared through the glass of the star destroyer and looked out at the darkness of space. Only the distant imperial starships glistened brighter than the stars.

"Excuse me, sir! This is an urgent matter!" he quickly as he wrestled and wiggled through the bellicose and boisterous crowd of officers to let him through. The old man slowly perked up his head when he recognized Haydrean's voice.

"Admiral, have you got word?" he replied sternly as he retreated his gaze back to the fleet.

"Yes. The situation is nearly…catastrophic. We need to meet in person, sir. Now." replied the Admiral as his voice cracked. Suddenly the heckling officers became deathly quiet and stared at each other silently. Even the officers stationed at the navigation stations stole a stare, attempting to figure out what had gone wrong.

"I see. Follow me Admiral. The rest of you, return to your designated positions and instructions will be given to you all very shortly." replied the old man as he began to walk off toward his personal command room. He looked back for a second and flicked his finger, beckoning for Haydrean to follow along. They remained silent throughout the walk over until they reached the private elevator.

"Fill me in, nobody knows anything…not even a single Moff" he said quietly as the elevator door opened to the command center. I finally managed to make contact with the Imperial Intelligence Agency and they gave me their secure channel code," said the Admiral.

A blue hue blanketed the room as the holoprojector activated and an Imperial officer appeared. The old officer walked over to the holoprojector.

"This is Grand Moff Hano, currently in the Bogden system. And you are?"

"This is the Imperial Intelligence Agency, we know you and your location already, no need for an introduction. Speak quickly," replied the officer snarkily.

"Watch your tone with me. I'd keep that in mind when talking to a Grand Moff. We can deal with your lack of respect later, let's get back to business; what the heck is going on out there?! We've lost communication with the fleets in this sector. Whenever we attempt to contact fleet command on the Death Star, we don't get a response. We've been sitting here for weeks!" said Hano impatiently as he crossed his arms in frustration.

"Grand Moff, we will be taking command of you and your fleet for the time being, is that clear? This is critical for fleet cohesion and more importantly, for central command to keep track of everyone during this communication blackout. What I am about to tell you is extremely confidential. This must not leave this room. Is that clear Grand Moff? Admiral Haydrean?"

Both Hano and Haydrean looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"It is very clear. I'll lay my honor on those words," said Hano as he stared at the figure at attention.

"We know what happened to the fleets in this sector. We also know what happened to fleet command.", said the figure.

"What do you mean what happened to fleet command? Aren't they on the Death Star?!" replied Hano in confusion.

"Correction. WAS. The Death Star was destroyed above Endor and the Emperor's plan failed to encircle and wipe out the Rebel Alliance and now to make matters worse, the victory has led to numerous desertions and rebellions across Imperial Space."

"Wha….why weren't we told about this?! And Lord Vader?" said Hano angrily as he gripped the holoprojector.

"Vader has not been heard from since, not even we know his whereabouts. The Emperor has attempted to maintain control over the populace. He did not want any unruly Moffs to usurp him during these testing times, which brings us to what happened to the fleets near your sector." Said the figure calmly.

"What of them?" asked the Admiral inquisitively as he stepped forward," I checked the fleets scanners…nothing. It's like they vanished! Could it be the Rebels? General Organa…"

The figure on the holoprojector looked baffled "What?! Why would you give that ragtag army of cavemen so much credit? Think, Admiral! The fleets did not disappear out of thin air, they CHOSE to disappear. When word leaked out to some of the Moffs, these greedy warlords turned their backs on us for their own profit and took their fleets with them! That is what happened to the fleets near you…and that is why we contacted you. We have a very important mission for you both. We need you to sever all communications with these fleets so they do not track the rest of us and we need them eliminated. On our hit list is three rogue fleets: Moff Juna's flotilla, Moff Hencrux's support fleet, and a third supply fleet led by Admiral Penko Val. These fleets have amassed near Tanaab in an attempt to strengthen their fleet, but they are still relatively weak so your invasion fleet should outmatch them very easily. Remember the modus operandi, no survivors or prisoners."

"T-take out our own fleets, sir? Shouldn't we reason with them first?" stuttered the Admiral.

"You cannot reason with criminals. There are no second chances in the Empire. These are the Emperor's orders, now do what is needed. We will end communications with you now and we will contact you once the task has been accomplished, " said the figure before the holoprojector went dark.

The Admiral looked at Hano silently and they both knew what they had to do. They quickly went to the elevator and split as soon as they reached the bridge. The Admiral hastily grabbed all of the officers at attention at the main communications relay center and ordered them to cut all communications to the rogue fleets at Tanaab. He then sent out orders to the battle groups to move to battle positions and get ready on their guns.

As Hano returned to the bridge, the officers at the bridge waited anxiously for an announcement. Hano went to the bridge and returned to the position he had earlier and stared out at the window. Suddenly in a reverberating voice, Hano announced to the officers of the bridge to set up a fleet wide announcement as the bridge holoprojector was activated.

Hano cleared his throat and began his speech.

(www. Youtube watch?v=Aa8U5OEzSyY )

"Men and women of the 6th Inner Rim Fleet, we have been given orders directly from the Emperor himself. We have traitors within our ranks that have abandoned their duty and honor. These barbaric warlords who we once honorably fought alongside have decided to side with the Rebellion. We will move swiftly and forcefully to the Tanaab system and wipe these heretics out. No survivors, not a single enemy TIE fighter will be left. Fleet, prepare for hyperspace to Tanaab and engage at will. I wish you the best of luck and remember, no mercy for criminals. "

With that, the navigation bridge reactivated into a lively frenzy as preparations were made before the assault. Finally, after weeks of being stagnant on Bogden, Hano and his fleet was ready for war once more. He once again reassumed his position at the bridge and stared out at the darkness. One by one the fleet disappeared into the empty darkness. 


	3. Deserter of Deserters

Chapter 2

"Exiting Hyperspace route, entering the Taanab system in 10 minutes…Flight Deck R organize final preparations for support squadrons!" announced the bridge.

Grand Moff Hano stroked his chin as he returned to the bridge. Engineers hurriedly moved to their stations and Stormtroopers ran to their shuttles to organize boarding parties if needed. Squadrons of TIE pilots proudly marched to their TIE fighters, bombers, and interceptors.

Admiral Haydrean was quickly managing everyone at the communications sector, relaying the status of the fleet to Hano. Hano bit his lips as he stared out of the bridge window once more in anticipation. "We will catch them by surprise" he thought to himself in silence.

(www. youtube watch?v=h2n7j1iUHuk)

"Exiting hyperspace in 5…4…3…2…1!"

Suddenly a frenzy of red lights flashed all around the bridge as soon as the ships got out of hyperspace. They reached the big green planet of Tanaab but they were also met with a flurry of cannon fire and countless single fighter ships were already engaging each other, with burning holes in the hulls of both Imperial and Rebel ships alike. Dogfighting A-wings and TIE Interceptors flashed past the bridge, nearly slamming into the deflector shields and straight to the bridge.

Suddenly a blinding bright light to the left of the bridge emanated followed by screams over the radio.

"The _Redeemer_ has crashed!" screamed one operator in horror as the star destroyer got out of hyperspace at the wrong position and rammed right into a Rebel Mon Calamari star cruiser, sending both ships ablaze into a fiery molten tangle.

"What the…?! ALL SHIPS EVASIVE MANEUVERS!" screamed Hano as he retreated from his post.

"Were the coordinates we were given wrong… what happened?! We launched right into the middle of a battle!" screamed Hano as he communicated with Haydrean.

"I don't know! We put in the exact coordinates!" said the Admiral in horror as he heard the screams of survivors in the communication room. The communication relay operators sat frozen. They could not answer the calls of the dying as they gasped for air. Just then, operators ran off to answer calls from other ships in the area as chaos broke out in the communication room.

"Launch any available fighters to defend he fleet as we reorient the ships away from the middle of the battle! Do not fire at the Imperial ships yet, focus on the Rebel ships!" said Hano as he dashed back to the bridge to assess any damage.

As the ships levelled out and assumed a more favorable position, a contingency of rebel Y-wings and X wings broke off of their original attack on the crippled rogue ships and made their way to Hano's flagship, attempting to take advantage of the exposed flagship. Support TIEs luckily managed to intercept them before they could get in range, sparking another pool of carnage on the battlefield.

"All batteries and fighters, engage the fighters. Ion cannons, focus on the cruisers and medical frigates. TIE bombers make your way to the central flagship once the peripheral ships are taken out by our Ion cannons and begin bombing procedures. Escorts will aid you as you get closer," said Hano as he assessed the situation.

One of the fleet's star destroyers slightly above Hano's ship began releasing its TIE interceptor escorts to engage. A flood of TIEs fell from the docking bay of the _Demise_ and joined the other TIES as well on their attack run.

"Focus shields to the right of our starships, we are going to encircle and choke them both out,' Hano ordered as his mind raced. The fleet had effectively made a clock-wise ring around the battle using the confusion they had unintentionally created. Hano's strategic genius of making "something out of nothing" during times like these were what had garnered him praise from Lord Vader and the Empire during the early years of the Rebellion. Countless years of combat and fleet command experience gave him the edge, especially against most Rebel commanders.

As the star destroyers circled around, Admiral Haydrean noticed the full extent of the battle that had been raging prior to their arrival and he was convinced it was an ambush. Most of the Imperial forces were wiped out, with only Moff Juna's fleet remaining, defended by mostly Vindicator-class starships and a few cruisers. The Rebels on the other hand were definitely a much smaller force, but had minimal causalities. With the loss of their Mon Calamari Star Cruiser, all the had left was their remaining medical frigate, their flagship, and a few escort ships. Regardless, they were were putting up a good fight despite being hopelessly outnumbered.

"Sir, based on the trajectory and status of the Rebel ships its almost as if they had prior knowledge of the traitors' fleet arrival. I would exercise caution with these Rebels and ensure that we have a defensive frigate watching sector 79 in case. These are definitely battle hardened Rebels." said the Admiral as he looked at the command map.

"There is definitely something strange about this…send a frigate but keep your mind on the logistics and communication. Strategy is my job, not yours Admiral." replied Hano pensively as he patrolled the bridge. He looked out toward the Rebel flagship being bombed repeatedly by his bombers but its shields were absorbing most of the punch.

Suddenly, the deck began to rumble and nearly threw Hano off balance. The Y-wings had broken through the TIE defensive line and were bombing the hull of the _Demise_.

"Who let them through? Intensify forward fire! TIE squadrons in the sector break off your attack and take out the bombers!" said Hano as a Y wing bomb barely missed the bridge. It became obvious that Hano had gotten a little too eager and cocky, leaving his ship wide open for small single fighter attacks.

The TIE fighters near the area broke off their attack run and began picking off the undefended Y-wings. The TIEs were much faster and more agile than the bulky Rebel bombers and shot them down before they could release most of their payload while TIE Interceptors picked off their initial X-wing escorts. The _Demise_ 's shields managed to hold and prevented any major damage from occurring. Quick thinking on part of the TIE pilots had prevented a breakthrough of the encircled Rebel fleet as the Ion cannons finally obliterated the remaining medical frigate, slamming rounds right into its connecting bridge and breaking it in half.

A second wave of Rebel ships managed to shake down one of Hano's star destroyers and destroy another as the Rebel flagship prepared for hyperspace. The Rebels knew they were in trouble once these "Imperial reenforcements" arrived to ruin their raid.

Hano's fleet, in unison, oriented all cannons and began firing on the flagship, ignoring the small Rebel fighters that attempted to swarm the star destroyers to make a large enough hole to escape. Like a true tactician, Hano had predicted this move from his adversary and already had a contingency plan ready. The frigate they had originally placed for defensive measures at sector 79 sneakily moved into position to fill the gap and at full power, managed to deflect and protect against major fire erupting from the desperate Rebel flagship.

"Her shields have collapsed, sir!" said one of the officers at the bridge as he looked up at Hano.

"Good. Kill her. Do not fire on the traitors yet, however. Wait till they are exhausted, then open fire on them as well," he replied with a smile. His mind was a huge game board. He knew the rules like the back of his hand...and he knew the tricks as well and with these tricks he always won. On this game board, not only had he positioned himself well enough to destroy the Rebel fleet, he had also trapped the unknowing and oblivious traitors' ships. He felt a sense of pride at his accomplishment. Two fleets sunk in one engagement definitely made up for the weeks of inactivity, drifting into space and counting the infinite clusters of stars in the opaque backdrop.

THe massive ion cannons of the _Demise_ reoriented, hungry for blood as blue fireballs emanated from them. A ball of light once again showered the bridge but this time, it was under good circumstances. The Rebel fleet in the sector around Taanab had been effectively demolished as the remaining Rebel ships were hunted down and decimated.

"Sir, I have analyzed the battlefield along with our tacticians at the command center. There is at least one rogue ship that is unaccounted for, along with a few supply ships. The wreckage in the area indicates they may have left prior to engagement with the Rebel fleet," said Commander Piel from the tactical command.

"Commander Piel, I want you to tell your pilots to maintain an active search area around the area and contact Imperial Intelligence telling them of the situation. Ask Admiral Haydrean for the communication code. Maybe they can alert any fleets from neighboring sectors to prevent these fugitives from escaping. Meanwhile, you can direct operations to mop up whats left of this place," replied Hano. He moved out of the bridge and walked over to his personal quarters. He sat calmly as he poured himself a glass of fine Alderaan Ruge Liqueur in celebration as he exhaled deeply. He brought out a pen and wrote in his journal the events of the battle. To Hano, war was almost like a sport. He loved maintaining records of the ships that he destroyed and recorded them with an "X" on a fold out antique galactic map he had received as a gift from his instructor at the Imperial Officer Academy many years ago. He relished at the fact that there was at least one "X" in each inhabited solar system on his map.

"Sir, the traitors' fleet wants to communicate with us. From the looks of it, they have no more fighters in their hangars and have lost so much power they need evacuation shuttles to abandon their ships"called the Admiral through his holoprojector as he broke Hano's trance.

"No. We will follow orders and maintain no communications with them." said Hano sternly.

"Operator, connect me with Flight Deck command on the ship." said Hano as he lookedat the limping fleet they had surrounded through his holoprojector. "My, what a waste of men and Imperial technology. What a shame…," he said to himself.

"This is Flight Deck command at your orders, Grand Moff," replied a voice.

"Send the bombers to finish off the traitors."

"Sir...? We understand the circumstance of their defection however they were fighting with us against the Rebels, not with them." asked the baffled Flight Deck commander. The supposed "traitors" it seemed like had not been working with the Rebels after all from what it seemed like to everyone on the ship.

"It's the Emperor's will, I do not question it. And if you want to remain in good standing, I strongly advise you to not question it as well. Now send those bombers out." he replied in annoyance.

"Yessir," replied the commander quickly. The commander turned off the holoprojector and looked to the secondary commanders of the individual flight decks. "Tell the TIEs to turn off targeting computers to target the rogue starships. Maintain the communication blackout with them and block any and all transmissions emanating from their ships."

More TIE bombers screamed out of the hangars toward the derelict ships, unloading bomb after bomb onto the weakened ship. The ship was now once again in a fiery blaze and a massive explosion blew off the bridge of the flagship, giving it its final coup de grace.

Hano observed the hologram at his personal command center as the TIE bombers completely decimated the dying flagship and ripped up into pieces. He felt a slight wrench in his stomach as he saw the ship consumed by the planet and burn up. Something still had not felt right about this battle. His suspicions were soon realized.

Suddenly, Commander Piel along with Admiral Haydrean called for Hano's personal elevator and they entered his office. Commander Piel stepped up and cleared his throat. Hano looked up in annoyance as he sipped his alcohol and put down his pen. Piel, a very thick, bulky man with razor sharp eyes and a military fade popped out from behind Haydrean and obstructed the door to the office.

"Yes?" Hano said as he stared at Piel, who stood their silently. His dulled and decorated stormtrooper armor clanked away through the awkward silence that ensued as he walked into the office.

"The Intelligence Agency responded. They lost contact with the main garrison at Boz Pity and it appears that there is in fact a traitorous element of Imperials that worked with Rebels to take them down. There were pockets of resistance but they stopped replying to any messages." Piel said in a rasped, accented voice.

The Admiral peeked behind Piel's tall figure and interjected, "The situation still lies in our galactic regional sector. The Emperor believes that the forces that escaped prior to our arrival here had defected and moved to Boz Pity so we have been tasked with hunting them down. It appears Admiral Penko Val was the one that escaped."

"Penko Val? Deserting the deserters…he has been and always will be a coward. I never trusted him. Back on Bakura he abandoned a whole fleet that desperately needed reinforcements. I'm surprised Vader did not execute that man right there and then." Hano took a drink of his beverage and finished it in a single gulp. He tapped his pen a bit on the desk as he reminisced and then abruptly got up from his seat. "Right then, off to Boz Pity we go. This is time sensitive, we have no time for other preparations. Get the landing troops ready though, Commander. You will be leading the campaign planetside and I will give you coordinates as well as other information given to me by the Intelligence Agency so we can finish this as swiftly as possible. Keep it off the record, but I want Penko Val alive Piel, understood?"

"Right away sir. We'll get this scumbag alive," replied Commander Piel as he shuffled out of the room.

"Do you have prior history with him?" inquired Haydrean as he casually walked into Hanos office.

"Pshh...I have more than just history with him. Way more than I would want, unfortunately. He's a scumbag for credits and to be quite honest, he's the type that would sell out his own kin to earn himself extra money for deathsticks…no honor or conscience in that man. Just thinking about him makes me sick to my stomach," replied Hano swiftly as he shook his head. "By the way, my opinions on the matter remain in this room for obvious reasons."

The Admiral quickly noticed that his inquiry had made Hano visibly flustered and irritated, so he tried to deviate the conversation.

"Looks like we're not out of this yet," the Admiral said pensively when suddenly the bottle of rare Alderaan Rouge Liqueur on Hano's desk caught his eye. "Wow and how did you manage to find a dated Rouge Liqueur? Oh my and its definitely dated and stamped. I haven't seen one of those in ages!"

"It comes with the job, Ivo. Care for a drink?" Hano chuckled as he poured himself another glass. "Looks like we're finally seeing some action again" he said with a cheerful glee. 


	4. Blood, Mud, and Bone

Comander Piel looked out of the shuttle as it descended onto to barren valleys Boz Pity, interspersed with gargantuan gravestones of ancients past. On the ground, Imperial troops had already begun to set up defensive positions near a deep ravine as heavier armament such as AT-ATs were slowly shuttled down to the surface of the planet. Crates of heavy ammunition were slowly being loaded onto the walkers or given out to heavy troopers that had accompanied the task force.

"Commander, this is Ivo. Hano's tacticians have sent you what we believe to be the location where Penko Val and his men landed after conducting a planetary scan. We have the planet blockaded so there is no way they can escape or contact anyone. Lieutenant PH109 will give you the details once you land. Contact the fleet once you make contact," Admiral Haydrean announced as his hologram flickered due to the signal jamming the ships were conducting.

"As you wish, sir. My shuttle has just landed, I will contact you shortly," replied Piel as he put on his distinctive grey and white helmet and stepped outside of the shuttle. Piel's boots plopped onto the deep bog, muddying up his greyed Storm Commando armor. In the sea of white armor of the landing area, a storm troop with a blue pauldron emerged, lightly taller than the rest.

"PH109? What a pleasant surprise…I thought you never made it out of officer's academy," Piel teased as he slung his DLT-19 over his shoulder as he walked off the landing zone.

The lieutenant completely ignored his comment as she shuffled her rifle around. " I have been given orders to fill you in on the situation," she huffed as she tried following Piel's rapid pace toward a gun emplacement on a ridge of the ravine.

"I was joking by the way…..anyways yeah go on…" said Piel as his gaze focused on a very distant object on the other side of the long ravine and pulled out his visual scanner.

"We have two garrisons at the ready with a rear defense garrison for support arriving within the hour. Our scouts have assumed positions all along the ravine and we have one AT-AT and a support squadron of AT-STs on the ground on their way," she replied attentively, "We also have one more AT-AT coming in shortly. We've begun to mass on the right side of the ravine as per your orders."

"Uh huh….have the scouts reported anything or anyone in the ravine? Any activity around our perimeter?" he replied monotonously, fixed on a silhouette he saw in the distance.

"No sir…I think they saw us coming. They've probably retreated somewhere deep into the caverns at the end of the ravine…that would be the most strategic idea anyway. I doubt Peko Val is as stupid as they say," she replied as she tried to make out what Piel was so transfixed by.

"Penko Val is a slimy bastard…he nearly got sent off to a slaver shuttle at Vader's orders for a reason you know. He's a dishonorable coward at times but he's more often than not a tactical genius, which is why he probably already knew we would track him down here. Then again, Hano and the Empire's doctrine was never too keen on stealthy approaches anyway. I don't know…but if my suspicions are correct, this won't be the walk in the park Hano was trying to get me to believe."

Piel's boots had begun to sink into the thick mud of the ridge as a light drizzle washed the crusted dirt off of his armor. He moved a bit to avoid the mud and continued, "Our troops are undertrained conscripts, our only advantage is numbers at this point. If Penko Val is up to something, we need to consolidate our most experienced troops along with our heavy armament and send the conscripts to spring his trap. We can then follow up and mop up any resistance once his forces show their ugly heads."

"We've got the advantage of air support, but with all these ravines and cave systems, we're better off clearing them on our own." PH109 responded.

"You've got a good point. Send out scout troops from the ravine to set up positions near the cave systems. Tell them to take their sniper rifles and post up just in case." He motioned for her to take his binoculars. She grabbed the binoculars and looked toward the haunting silhouette of a rebel transport blocking the exit of the ravine. As she zoomed in closer, there was another imperial transport in the distance near the caves. Just as she had predicted, the traitors had set up in the cave system, effectively protecting themselves against conventional TIE bomber armament.

"See it yet?" Piel asked as he looked back suddenly to see that the first of the AT-ATs had finally arrived to the staging area and unloaded troops that were now massing, ready for their offensive. Piel now had a plan to trap the troops at the caves by evading the ravine, which was an obvious trap set up by Penko, and use a pincer movement on either end of the cliffs flanking the ravine to encircle them.

"Yes I see it, just as we expected," she said as she handed back the scanner. She pulled up her scoped rifle and continued to look out in the distance. Small blips moved around occasionally near the caves and melded back into the grey-green horizon. PH109 had a feeling Piel was right, this was going to be much more than a simple elimination mission. "Why didn't Hano order an orbital strike and just be done with him? It seems pointless to throw us out here when we have those ships up there."

"Out of the question. For some reason he wants Penko alive," replied Piel sternly as he looked at his map on his display and coordinated troops along both edges of the ravine using his command display built into his wrist armor.

"I didn't know Hano had a thing for Penko…" she replied irritably as she continued scoping the area ahead. She gripped her rifle harder around the barrel. "Normally when it comes to trash like him I'd personally prefer to incinerate them myself."

Piel took note of PH109's strange behavior, which captivated his curiosity. He momentarily perked up his head from his command display, "And I would assume you have a thing for him as well?"

"More than I'd like to admit," she replied nonchalantly. Piel looked at her hoping to gauge her thoughts on the matter but preferred not to get her too riled up. He had been told the lieutenant was a good, effective soldier with leadership potential, but she was unstable at times. Too brash for the Empire at times. Piel stared at 109 curiously once more, but suddenly returned his gaze back to his command display to more important matters. The Admiral had sent him a voice message over secured channels regarding "considerable" movement in the area.

PH109 was still looking through her rifle's scope into the barren, misty wasteland, staring curiously at the rebel transport. "Huh…a GR-75 model, she hummed to herself as she saw small blips dancing near it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small, short lived spot of light at the end of the ravine, quickly followed by a swift twang in the distance the picked up the dirt around her into the air momentarily. She smelled a metallic, ionized smell through her helmet's filters.

Suddenly, a huge explosion in the sky a couple stories above 109 threw everyone off their feet when suddenly a molten mesh of an imperial carrier crashed into the ravine, instantly killing everyone in the immediate area. PH109 picked herself up and came to her senses in just enough time to realize that the second AT-AT inside was hit by the blast of the anti-air round but luckily, the AT-AT crew managed to survive the initial crash and blasted its way out of the rubble. The burning AT-AT began inching its way out of the wreckage and toward the edge of the ravine until the crew realized they could not pull it out of the ravine. Storm troops were thrown into a chaotic fury, getting into their defensive positions and returning fire aimlessly into the mist. Small arms fire erupted throughout the ravine as Penko Val's biker scouts picked at Piel's troops.

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"AT-AT crew two, continue onwards through the ravine. Second offensive hook, send two units down to the ravine as escorts for them," barked Piel as he made his way over to a speeder bike, flanked by his usual commando scout troopers. "We are going to start our offensive earlier than expected, everyone to your positions and form up!" Piel then looked to PH, "PH109, I need you to get on the other side of the ravine to lead the troops in the second hook, they need someone with experience to lead them for our offensive on the right flank." PH109 nodded silently as she saw him zoom off to take charge of the left flank.

AT-STs began their engines and clamored on as they made their way toward the relatively flat horizon where enemy troops would surely be waiting for them. Gunners atop the walker shot into the distance to cover the ground troops as they ran across the barren, deceptively empty fields of huge bones, knee high reeds, loose stones, and thick mud. 109 snapped into action and managed to barely cross the ravine with her jetpack and made her way over to the weakened right flank. She hadn't yet touched the ground when she began ordering troops around to position them, telling some to stick closer to the ravine to cover the vulnerable fireteam below. The left flank under Piel's direct command had moved along smoothly and received little to no fire compared to the unit in the ravine, which slowly inched forward despite the massive firepower of the AT-AT.

PH109's troops rapidly advanced towards the fire coming from across the thick, grassy field. One of the two AT-STs at PH's disposal began firing into the ravine, which was being swarmed by laser fire. The gunner atop desperately attempted to pick off any ragtag fighters in the thick brush of the ravine as they rushed the Imperial troops until they were ultimately eliminated.

"Ma'am were being cut off from the main force!" radioed the AT-ST driver in desperation to PH109.

" Leave them to fight their own battle, they have their orders and we have ours. Keep moving up here, give us cover fire!" he replied as she moved up with a wave of Stormtroopers.

Squads had arranged into attack formations and organized into a huge, spread out arrow formation made of successive waves which rushed the open terrain, spearheaded by PH and her squad of 3 troops. The two AT-STs split and moved to secure the flanks of the formation and clamored at a relatively quick speed to match the charging troops. PH led the charge, lobbing handfuls of thermal detonators into foxholes and other makeshift defenses the rebels and indigenous resistance had set up. Chunks of bloodied body parts and charred armor littered the floors behind them as they continued their charge. Strangely, many of them were not rebel Stormtroopers or indigenous fighters, but they were humans, unrecognizable enough to have their identities and allegiances remain a mystery to 109.

The transport ship at the mouth of the ravine was slowly becoming more visible. As 109 and her squadrons inched closer they could also see the cave system and were subsequently met with intense firepower straight ahead of them but continued to rapidly push up at 109's orders. Swarms of white Stormtroopers could be seen in the brush in the distance. Thinking they were allied troops that had come from the ravine, PH109 hesitantly lifted her rifle at them but did not fire. When they saw this, they immediately raised their rifles and began shooting at her and her immediate squad. She violently and rapidly threw her body down onto the soft mud to avoid the rifle fire that instantly cut down the thick brush around her.

"They're not ours! Fire…FIRE!" she screamed as she motioned for the AT-STs to fire. In a quick explosive burst, the AT-STs ionized the air and disintegrated the rebel Stormtroopers with their laser cannons and rocket fire. She continued firing as her squad rapidly took cover behind thick mud and bone that stuck out of the bog like spires. The cover was quickly disintegrating as heavy line of fire erupted up ahead. The rebels were heavily dug in and the AT-STs were the only things laying down any effective fire against the enemy. The AT-STs clamored around, evading enemy fire as waves of PH109's troops overpowered the defensive trench system. 109 and her squad quickly threw themselves from their initial positions and into the burnt out trenches as more fire erupted ahead as well as sniper fire was erupting from the dense brush, making it impossible for 109's troops to pinpoint. Bodies littered the floor, revealing Rebellion insignias on the uniforms of some of the troops interspersed with other bodies with distinctive Imperial armor.

Despite the deafening explosions, PH109 stood there looking at the insignia on one of the bodies perplexed. "So it really is true…" she mumbled to herself.

Another loud explosion rocked her out of her trance. One of the AT-ST's heads was ablaze as the ammunition cooked and exploded from the inside. Everyone took cover as the AT-ST toppled over and exploded, sending chunks of dirt, glass, twisted metal, and ground up limbs sky high.

As the debris rained down, the troops continued their advance topside on no mans's land to support the remaining AT-ST on the assault despite the sniper fire from the ravine.

A barrage of sniper fire from the ravine burst throughout 109's position, nearly missing her and another squad that had posted up near them to clean out the extensive trench system. Anti-armor fire had taken its toll on the AT-AT down in the ravine as the offensive in the ravine ground to a halt. PH109 had driven her forces too far, too fast, leaving her whole left flank weakened and exposed to attack. To make matters worse, the jamming had somehow affected her own ability to contact Piel about the situation, making it that much more difficult to know the situation around her.

"Lieutenant, what do we do?" yelped one of her squadmates in desperation.

"Hold here and cover our left flank! Maybe take a few of those snipers with you." she snickered, "I'm going to clear the trench system up ahead."

109joined up with the heavy troop squads that had begun torching the trenches up ahead, which from the looks of it, ran down all the way to the end of the ravine and spilled into the second enemy defensive line as well. The cave system up ahead looked much bigger and the large transport ship at the mouth of the ravine was now easily visible. If they could break through the trenches, the troops could evade the sniper fire and clear up the right flank. A quick victory against Penko Val would be decided on the success or failure of PH109 to take the trenches.

Everyone, follow me!" PH109 bellowed as she charged in with her rifle in hand. A swarm of Imperial troops followed her into the firefight. The enemy troops, quickly realizing the situation, reacted swiftly and violently, throwing whatever explosives they had into the trenches that had been overrun by Imperial Stormtroopers and shock troopers. PH managed to inch forward slowly, evading explosions and blaster fire from across the trench systems.

A second explosion rocked her down to her knees as the remaining AT-ST slammed onto the ground in a molten mess. The pilots desperately tried to crawl out of the burning carcass but were quickly lit up. The escort Stormtroopers that remained topside slowly succumbed to sniper fire due to the lack of cover and were wiped out.

"We're taking rocket fire from a rocket emplacement in the trenches!" yelled one of the shock troopers up ahead.

In a desperate attempt to muster forces, PH109 ordered all troops to use any explosives available and mercilessly clear out the trenches and eliminate the rocket fire.

"All bets are off, if you want to live, your only option is to kill!" she screamed as she charged in alone. The elite shock troopers led the other troops in a desperate attack until they were once again slowed down. Despite the heavy casualties, PH109 remained confident and steadfast as she rushed forward until the fire ceased.

Cautiously, the surviving troops ran through the maze of bodies and rendezvoused at the now abandoned rocket emplacement. It was a large mound that had been emptied out into a bowl, providing solid cover for the troops as a heavy trooper rigged up the explosives. The air was suspiciously quiet.

"Set up a defensive perimeter, all of you…hurry!" PH109 said with slight desperation. The deep trench had cast shadows onto her position, making it extremely dark to see if any troops were coming from the only two access ways to their positon.

"The explosives are ready, everyone clear out!" announced the heavy trooper as everyone flooded out of the area into the access ways.

(www .youtube watch?v=nRaiLY23gU8)

A fireball engulfed the rocket emplacement, scorching the ground black and sending a massive plume of smoke up into the air. It was this that made PH109 realize that she had made a fatal error. Until now, they had Like bees to honey, rebel troops that had been waiting silently for the Imperials to approach suddenly got out of their foxholes above no man's land and ambushed the desperate troops stuck in the trenches.

"Get to cov..!" 109 uttered before she was shot in the chest and momentarily knocked out by a thermal detonator. Her helmet had been blown clean off, taking most of the damage but her face was left with a broken nose and a profuse stream of blood coming from her nostrils. Hazily, she stumbled around in a haze as she crawled toward a helmet with a comm link of a fallen troop. Hordes of rebel forces were now aiming down into the trenches, firing at anything and everything. Her and the remaining squadron of shock troopers hunkered down unable to even move a centimeter without getting fried. As she put on the helmet attempting to contact Piel, she was met with nothing but interference. Defeated, she laid down in the trench and blankly stared up at the sky. She could see the heads and rifles of the troops as they blindly fired into the trenches again. In the distant grey sky, she saw a black figure. The single Star Destroyer hovering above her gave her an idea.

She changed the comm link frequency to a distress signal, making it available to everyone's communication, thus circumventing the jamming. The enemy already knew her position, there was no longer any reason to hide it and use an encrypted and restricted frequency.

"This is PH109, commanding officer of the right flank. We need emergency…aerial bombardment. I have sent coordinates to the target."

Rebel stormtroopers had now begun entering the tunnel system and systematically executed any wounded Imperial stormtroopers they could find.

PH109 desperately tried sending the same distress signal, however, there was no response.


	5. Smoke and Mirrors

The Admiral dashed out of the communications room, surprising the officers in the corridors as he passed by. He huffed as he crossed the corners of the dizzying maze of corridors that led to the bridge. Haydrean opened the elevator door to Hano's private quarters. There he found Hano meticulously staring at a garbled holocron map of the battlefield, which was nearly impossible to decrypt with the standard Imperial hardware. Hano's head drooped down as he held onto the controls of the display.

"Sir..! This is urgent!" mumbled the Admiral as he slowly inched toward the display.

"Yeah, no kidding! I can't communicate with anyone on the ground, what has Piel done?! I knew I couldn't trust him; I knew he would double cross me again like this!" barked Hano in a raspy voice as he slammed his fist down on the display.

"It…it wasn't him sir. We have a suspicion it could be Penko Val." He replied as he lifted his cap and wiped the sweat off his brown.

"You're saying a good-for-nothing scoundrel with a handful of transport ships is jamming our whole fleet's connection to the planet? What kind of stupid thing are you trying to feed me Ivo? At least admit to me you have no idea what's going on before making me out for an idiot!" Hano replied in a rage. "And to think this was going to be an easy win against Penko for once."

Haydrean cleared his throat. "Sir, we…I…failed. Penko Val still has our encryption codes. Chances are he intercepted communications once we got out of light speed. He knew our plan from the start. Worst of all, he has been able to tamper with our communications on the ground. We believe he had help from the Rebellion."

Hano pulled away from the display and stared at the ground as he nodded his head slowly. "And how does the Rebellion fall into all this?"

"One of the last transmissions from Piel before we lost communication was that there was more resistance than expected and some of the troops killed were not just rebelling storm troops, but unmarked forces that had equipment and transport ships that had nearly identical signatures to those used by Rebels. We don't know how involved they may be, but this may very well support my theory that the fleet we engaged with at Tanaab was set up. For what? We have no idea."

"As soon as you get back to your station, tell everyone in the fleet to reset and scramble their communications. Can we send any forces down to contact Piel or his lieutenant? I fear they may be walking into a trap." Hano replied as he walked into his office.

"Piel said the heavy anti-air capabilities of the enemy was unprecedented. We had received an order a few minutes ago through a non-secure Imperial channel for aerial bombardment from one of our troops on the ground. Chances are if Penko did have a trap for them, they have already sprung it." the Admiral gulped as he followed Hano into the office.

"Damnit…and did you aid them with an orbital strike? That may have been their only chance at surviving this mess." replied Hano as he slowly lifted his head to make eye contact with Haydrean.

"N…no sir. The strike was called on the last known position of Piel's lieutenant, PH109. We feared it could've been Penko's troops attempting to trick us."

"They're all dead anyway if we do or don't, order the damn strike Ivo." Hano as he waved his hand dismissively. "Go!"

Haydrean quickly saluted and high tailed out of the office toward the elevator door.

Before Haydrean exited, Hano peeked his head out of the office. "Don't forget to tell everyone to fix their communication systems dammit, even individual Stormtroopers. Also, I need to inform the Imperial Intelligence Agency of the situation. We may need more information on what exactly is going on between Penko and the Rebellion." He paused for a second as he walked toward the display again. "That can still be done without Penko listening in, right?"

"They're on a completely different level of encryption and frequency range, it should be safe Sir." Replied Haydrean reassuringly before he took the elevator back up to the bridge.

Hano recalibrated the communications in his private quarters and attempted communication with the Intelligence Agency. A familiar figure popped out of the shadows, however this time, he was flanked by two shadow troopers.

"Make this quick Hano. We have something very important to tell you." replied the man.

" Rightly so. You need to give us information on Penko's dealings with the Rebellion," said Hano sternly.

"Is that all?! The presence or absence of that information should not interfere with your operation, Hano. You were given sufficient information to do as you were told." the figure replied. However, this time strangely, he looked a bit more on edge. "Penko has something we need. Tell your Admiral to kill him and bring back his personal safe. What is in that safe is what the Rebellion wants. Tell him that when it is obtained, do not under any circumstances open it. We will send our Shadow troops to retrieve it from his men."

"Why my Admiral?" Hano replied perplexed. "What's going on? This is MY ship!"

"This brings us to your next assignment," replied the figure in annoyance.

Hano lost his temper at the secrecy and seemingly incoherent strategy being employed. "Did you not just hear what I said you fools?! How can I get a next assignment if I'm bogged down with this mess on Boz Pity which, by the way is also your fault? Where is Lord Vader, I need to contact him personally on your ineptness!" Hano cried in anger. "I'm done with you people!"

The man snickered, yet was still on edge. In a reconciliatory tone, he quickly replied, "We don't have much time. Everything will make sense in due time. Split your fleet and go on board the _Inflictor_ and set out to rendezvous with Grand Moff Randd's fleet in the Western Reaches. A critical operation will be taking place in this sector…one that that may determine the fate of the Empire as we know it. Do not tell anyone, not even your Admiral." The Shadow troops that had been flanking him abruptly disappeared and the figure hastily vanished along with them before the hologram cut off abruptly.

Hano stood there quietly, attempting to control his frustration. He marched back into his office and opened up his liquor bottle once again. As he drank, he stared back to the map of the fleet and observed the aerial bombing that had commenced. The power and carnage observed from the atmosphere hardly calmed his nerves as he chased his drink with another. The bitter taste of his encounter with this elusive figure remained at the back of his throat as he reluctantly called for a transport shuttle to take him off his own flagship to the _Inflictor._ He returned to his notebook and began scribbling notes ferociously, took the papers, and made his way toward the bridge.

Grand Moff Hano made his way to the shuttle bay when he stumbled across the Admiral who had just gotten out of a meeting with his communication and intelligence officers.  
"To think, getting thrown off of my own damn ship and being sent to a wasteland!" was the only thing out of his mouth as he stormed off past Haydrean. "Admiral, you're in charge of the operation here at the orders of your stupid friend at the Intelligence Agency. I've written down specific orders for you. They're in your office."

"What's going on, our operation on Boz Pity is not over. We need your guidance here, are you mad?!" said Haydrean in complete shock.

Hano's old bones creaked as he rapidly pivoted his body towards the Admiral. He pointed his bony, long, chalky index finger and shoved it into Haydrean's chest. "Like I said, tell that to your damned friends at Intelligence. I'm off to the _Inflictor_ right now and I'm taking half of the fleet with me…keep the rest of the fleet in one piece. I'm entrusting you with this ship as well. Stay out of my private quarters unless it's an emergency…and don't touch the Rouge Liqueur."

The Admiral, in complete shock stopped following him and stared as Hano vanished into the sea of troops and crewmen in the corridors of the _Demise_. He slowly returned to the bridge. He could see Hano's ship and the TIE interceptors that followed it slowly melded into the silhouette of the _Inflictor_.  
Soon after, what seemed like most of the fleet following behind the _Inflictor_ had vanished, leaving behind the original fleet at half strength. Admiral Haydrean stood at the bridge in silence as everyone watched in anticipation for anything to come out of the Admiral's mouth. But nothing did. He stood there, hoping that for some reason, Hano would come back. He had experience as a fleet leader back in his younger days but after training and serving under Hano for decades, it seemed sacreligious to occupy the bridge of the _Demise_ without him.  
His train of though was interrupted by one of his officers from Communications and Intelligence.

"Admiral, Commander Piel has made contact."

"What? Are you sure?" Haydrean said in complete disbelief.

"Yes, he left a message for you…"

Ivo left the officer mid-sentence, quickly exited the bridge, and hustled over to his office to view the message. He pushed aside the notes Hano had hand written to the side as the semi-scrambled message bubbled out of the holo projector on Haydrean's desk while the Admiral stared silently in anticipation.

"Admiral, I wish I could get into detail with you but time is short and we are using a trackable non-encrypted distress frequency. Our military grade frequencies are being jammed and we cannot coordinate our forces effectively on the ground so we will be moving at my discretion. Luckily we've met up with the Trandoshian bounty hunters Hano sent in to help us break through Penko's defenses. We will get back to you when Penko is caught and our communication is back up. Good luck."

The Admiral sat there silently. He replayed the message in its entirety but something was very disturbing about it. He contacted the head officer in Communications and asked about Hano's message log. Besides the encrypted messages between the Intelligence Agency that had been blocked from the report, nothing was out of the ordinary and all communication that had been sent for the past few weeks had been with other allied Imperial ships and installations in the area. He sifted through Hano's notes but nowhere had he mentioned sending Trandoshians to the planet. The only thing mentioned was the mysterious object Penko had that had made the Imperial Intelligence Agency move a whole fleet to conduct a ground assault to get.

The Admiral sat silently staring into the hallway and buried his face. Piel was walking straight into a trap and he didn't even know it.

Haydrean had an idea. It was a longshot, but it was an idea nonetheless. He contacted the only Shadow Scout troopers he had available.

"This is Admiral Haydrean. I'm in charge of the fleet for now while Grand Moff Hano is away. I need your force to land far enough away to avoid detection under the cover of night and pass my new orders to the Commander or his lieutenant, PH109. Take an escape pod down, its small enough to avoid being detected."

As the elite scouts prepped for their deployment in their barracks, Admiral Haydrean sat in his small office staring at Hano's notes silently, waiting.


	6. Penko's Lair

PH109 gripped the scorched dirt and moss at her fingertips. She could feel as if burning weights crushed down on her weakened chest and armor. Her heart skipped a beat a she realized that she had survived the orbital strike that ultimately came, yet still she could not move. Her muscles begged for her to rest, but her fear of bleeding out or having lost limbs superseded any plea from her body. As her crusted eyes readjusted from the blinding light of the strike, she lifted her arms in a fresh breath of life and threw off debris that had stacked up on her in the trench. As her hand broke through the wall of dirt and bodies stacked on her, she could feel the moist air that greeted her naked fingertips. She moved her legs in a sigh of relief-she was still whole and alive. As she attempted desperately to reach for something to grasp on to, leathery fingers interlocked with hers and moved around vivaciously at the sign of life. She could hear muffled yells as the weight was slowly taken off her chest and the orange, setting sun graced her face through her shattered helmet.

"Lieutenant…are you alright?" said a familiar fuzzy voice.

As she was lifted up out of the trench, she saw six silhouettes. As her eyes fixed onto the figures she saw that Piel had come with his two troopers. In the distance she saw three huge unrecognizable but distinctive reptoid figures with flight suits and heavy armament. Trandoshians.

PH coughed and squinted her eyes in disbelief. "The hell are those things doing here?"

"Didn't think I'd find you in all this debris." Piel said with a smile.

"What…happened?" she replied. As she got up, a massive ache crawled from the base of her spine to the tip of her skull. She threw off her mangled helmet and grabbed her head in pain. She wiped around her head and face to feel for any damage. She felt blood all over her mouth.

Piel took note of PH's flurried look as her hands scrambled their fingers around her face, touching the blood on her face. "Not to worry, its just your nose and a few cuts, youre still in one big ugly piece. Take this." he said as he tossed her a small ration pouch of edible bacta.

He watched as she quickly devoured the packet when he stopped abruptly and worriedly inched her eyes over to Piel. "How long have I been out?"

"Don't worry it hasn't been long, I'd say a couple hours." Piel surveyed the carnage. "So I doubt this needs to be asked…but what the hell happened here."

"Can't really tell you much of what happened after I called the orbital strike, except that we got torn to shreds. A highly coordinated ambush is what it was." PH replied somberly as she too observed the blackened landscape. "This is not the ragtag group the Grand Moff talked about. They were armed to the teeth with upgraded anti air and anti-vehicle weapons systems, even for a typical transport fleet…they were too well armed."

"Doesn't help that Hano jumps right into things without thinking things through…as usual." replied Piel as he shook his head.

PH wiped her bloody hands off on her charred and blackened armor. "Shouldn't say that while your commlink is on." She smirked. She picked up a blaster and fresh helmet from the mass of bodies of mangled, burnt Rebel troops that had apparently shielded her from the orbital strike. She dropped the helmet and kept looking around until she found one that worked.

"Yeah don't worry about anyone hearing us. Apparently Penko still has our encryption codes and jammed the hell out of all of our off-and-on planet ground communications. Best part is, he's probably listening in on us right now." Piel looked at his two troops and tapped on his helmet's built in commlink. They quickly shut off their commlinks and took off their helmets. "I need you two to make it back to the other side of the ridge and tell everyone to reassemble, load up and move into position. Remember the plan."

"Right away, sir," replied one of Piel's men. They ran off and vanished into the mist.

"What's the plan now? Let's not forget our whole right flank is now gone," asked PH inquisitively. She moved her gaze over to the three beasts behind him whilst pulling him off to the side. She kept her gaze on them and fastidiously whispered "And what the heck are…those things…doing here? We don't need their help…" The three kept their gaze on her quietly with the occasional snarl, showing their pointy teeth like rabid, starved animals. One of them wore a distinctive yellow flight suit whilst the other two wore plastoid, grey armor with red and green flight suits underneath.

"This is Bossk, Kraan, and Dromar. They're with us and they've worked for us before. I'm guessing Hano called in a few favors?" Piel shrugged.

PH pouted. "Well I don't trust them, we should leave the-"

"Nobody said you had to, lieutenant." Piel interjected sarcastically as he walked toward the mangled trench system, "They know a back door into Penko's lair but please, feel free to knock on his front door and see if he'll let you in. You're either coming with me or you can go with everyone else and get fried to death in the frontal assault. Completely your choice, lieutenant."

PH stood there silently gazing at the Trandoshians, "I'd like to say I'd try my luck with the frontal assault…but something tells me I should watch your back." She gave a weak, worried smile to Piel as she hinted at the joke. 

To her relief, Piel chuckled and replied, "Now that's what I like to hear from the Empire's poster girl.", as he motioned for her to come along. A light drizzle tapped on the heads of the five as they entered through the trench system and into a set of catacombs that ran into the cave system up above. The Trandoshians assembled together and took a knee with them as Piel drew out the game plan for the next phase of the operation.

"The main frontal attack has been told to begin their assault as soon as nightfall hits and the sun goes down. We will have no direct communication with anyone else, so it's imperative that we execute this flawlessly. Needless to say, Piel can't know we're coming this way. When we reach the subterranean entrance, I will split up with Kraan quickly to prevent the Rebels from assembling defensive positions while 109 and Dromar move in to open a path for the frontal assault. Bossk will move on his own to provide sniper fire for us from a nearby ridge. Radio silence is imperative for the success of this mission. I'm risking a lot on us to succeed in this, but I have faith you will all perform well. The Trandoshians have provided us a map of these cave systems. They're a bit old and may be inaccurate, but its the best we've got. 109, I've linked up our commlinks to both of our maps so you can keep track of me and I can keep track of you. Any questions?"

The Trandoshians snarled and talked to each other in an unrecognizable tongue but remained fairly quiet as they loaded up their rifles.

"I take that as a no. Alright, move out," said Piel. "You should all now have a copy of the map on your data pads. Remember, radio silence after this." They all nodded in unison and picked up their dirtied rifles and moved deeper into the caverns while Bossk sneaked out of the trench systems and moved into position on a ridge overlooking the caves. The sun was just about to set in the distance as the stars slowly became more visible. Piel and Kraan reached the end of the silent, abandoned catacombs and perched up next to a stalagmite within one of the deep crevasses that looked over the cave system and abandoned Rebel transport. There was still no sign of the missing Imperial transports in the area. Piel looked back at the sound of footsteps and saw a slightly fidgety PH and Dromar in position right behind them; to their right was a long cavern that went from the ridge to the cave systems. The cave system was so close that they could discern faces through the scopes of their rifles. He picked up his binoculars and could see Bossk move into position with an anti-material slug rifle and signal the okay. The brief tranquility was quickly interrupted by huge blasts and laser fire in the distance. The troops had begun their move and Bossk began firing into a crowd, instantly lighting fuel cells on fire near the entrance of the caves and blasting bodies sky high.

"Its time." Piel thought to himself as he motioned for the team to rush through the long cavern and into Penko's lair.

As PH split from Piel, she had a bad feeling about leaving him with Kraan. Piel gave her a quick reassuring smile as he vanished into a connecting corridor with the bulky Trandoshian. She had one eye up ahead and one eye on Dromar as she shuffled through the seemingly empty cave system. She turned on the light attached to her blaster, which only slightly illuminated the rocky, blue walls. Occasionally, she saw abandoned mechanical trash interspersed with tubing connecting power generators, but there was strangely little resistance considering this corridor was most likely used by Penko's forces to reinforce the right flank's trench system. The two charged forward silently with their rifles to their chests, following the rough map Piel had shown them. That suddenly changed when she and Dromar turned a corner and lost their footing stepping on uneven terrain.  
PH was visibly confused and quickly lit up the room's floor with a flashlight from her rifle. There were bloody and dismembered bodies strewn around with vials of empty bacta everywhere. "It must be what's left of who survived the aerial strike," she thought to herself as she stomped forward over the room of carcasses. She was a bit unnerved as she walked through the room silently, half expecting it to be an ambush of some sort. She gripped her rifle tighter and pulled out her pistol in anticipation.

The Trandoshian got on one knee sniffed around, "Fresh bodies. They retreated further into the caves, we need to move fast."

"We go on my orders, not yours. In fact, since you're so eager to lead, I've just volunteered you to move up ahead and be my point man," PH challenged the Trandoshian as she motioned for him to move up with a wag of her pistol. She stared down at Dromar through the sights of her pistol with her cold, blue eyes.

The scaled creature snarled in annoyance and nearly spit on her face as it passed her and begrudgingly moved up ahead of her. He slowly clamored over the bodies until he reached the other end of the room, looked at his map, and then looked back at PH with an insidious grin. "Follow me…", it smiled, showing its blackened, thorny teeth.

After a while of following Dromar, the corridors began to narrow and 109 began to lose her sanity as her heart raced at every corner. She constantly looked back at the endless tunnels and connections, wondering where the rebels were lurking. There was still no resistance in the cave systems and the Trandoshian seemed like it was leading her in circles. She stole a quick look at her map and quickly realized that the Trandoshian was in fact leading her off course. She was beginning to think that it was either completely stupid or it had something else more sinister up its sleeve. She believed it was the latter and began to panic. There was no way she would win in a solo firefight against a battle hardened and heavily armed Trandoshian by herself, so she decided to lose him. However, whenever she slowed down her pace in an attempt to make a getaway, she realized that Dromar took quick notice every time and looked back at her with that same nasty, maniacal grin, almost like it was mocking her. Other times, she would catch Dromar attempting to look at her map and quickly turn its head away.

"What the heck is going on…" she thought to herself as she though of all the possibilities. "Had Hano double crossed his own troops? Why does it keep looking at my map?"

Out of the corner of her eye, PH saw a bit of light emanating from a crack in the distance of one of the tunnels. This could be her only chance at escaping she thought to herself as she tried to avoid bringing up any suspicion. PH acted cool and collected as she continued following Dromar. She was desperate to get out of the endless maze with the smelly Trandoshian as her cautious, stealthy walk away from Dromar's path and toward the light turned into a jog as she got closer and closer. As she got about a fourth of the way over to the light, she realized it was a makeshift door that had been slightly left open. Now was her chance.

"Where are you going, follow me!" the Trandoshian snarled worriedly as it saw PH109 inch closer to the crack.

Without a word, PH suddenly let loose and ran toward the door without looking back

The Trandoshian, noticing that PH was about to get out of the cave system, began quickly chasing after her. "Hey!" It screamed as it ran at full speed and gained on her.

Dromar's primal instincts as an apex predator kicked in and he began running on all fours. 109's heart raced as she continued to run. If Trandoshian's sharp teeth could kill a Wookie, surely a single bite from Dromar through her armor could bleed her to death and pulverize her bones with ease. 

PH kicked up a dust storm as she frantically ran and didn't look back.

"Give me your map!" Dromar screeched as it began snapping at PH's heels. As PH neared the door, she could almost feel Dromar's horrible breath running down her neck. She fired her pistol blindly, hoping to slow the Trandoshian. To no avail, it continued chasing after her unfazed. In desperation, she threw the pistol furiously, striking the Trandoshian in the head. This bought her only a millisecond, as the Trandoshian became even more angry and its adrenaline kicked in.

PH was so close however, she was only seconds away from escaping certain death.

PH reached out toward the door with both hands when it suddenly, the door opened and released a shower of laser fire through the tunnel. PH instinctively collapsed on the floor for cover. PH looked up at the blinding light and saw three silhouettes with rifles in hand aimed at hear head. She felt a tight lump in her throat as she waited for her imminent execution. She had cheated death once before, surely her luck had run out now, she though.


	7. A Truth Untold

The dust cleared as the familiar silhouette of Storm Commandos rushed toward the charred Trandoshian that lay just inches away from PH's feet. Visibly shaken but relieved, she stumbled up to her feet and slowly picked up her pistol and loaded up. The commandos ran over to the Trandoshain and began searching it while the other stood at the ready facing the tunnels.

"What's the situation?" said one of the commandos as he pointed his light toward the tunnel system.

"I'm fine, thanks." PH blurted out as she dusted her face off. "Maybe you should ask the support you sent."

The lead commando stood up slowly, blaster in hand. "What support?"

PH stared at the body and nudged her head toward it. "That. Apparently Hano sent that."

"Hano didn't send any support. There's been no communication with anyone down here since you touched base here," replied the commando.

PH a muffled "What…" escaping her bloody, caked lips as she looked at the Trandoshian and then to the commando.

"Sir, there's only one here. Where's the other one?" said one of the commandos.

"There's three others, minus this one," replied 109.

"Not these lizards. Two of you," said the commander.

One of the other commandos next to her lead stood up as well while she placed some of the Trandoshian's things in a muddy ruck. "We were sent to get you and Piel. We're the closest thing to backup you have at this point…now, where is Piel?"

"Piel…." PH whimpered as she looked at her map.

Piel's tracker had stopped moving 30 minutes ago. "Those damned lizards! Follow me!" she roared. Without warning, PH charged out of the door and across a flimsy metal gangway that connected the cave system to a secluded part of the cave system. Countless stories below her, burnt and mangled bodies covered the ground as the Stormtroopers had begun fighting through the catacombs of the cave system in search of Penko.

"Follow her!" screamed the lead commando as the three followed her. Just as PH made is across the gangway, the commandos were suddenly fired upon by sniper fire midway. The gangway swayed back and forth as the commandos ducked their heads trying to evade the fire. One of the commandos raised his pistol above his head and began firing shots in the general direction of the fire.

"Suppressing!" he screamed as the other two commandos tumbled across the dilapidated gangway to the entrance where PH disappeared. Just as the commandos began returning fire, a well-placed shot slammed into the visor of the lagging commanding commando, sending him swiftly down to his death.

"We need to keep going!" yelled the female commando as she pulled the other one away from the gruesome view below.

"Now, where'd she go?" huffed the commando in anger. He raised his rifle and stood quietly, listening. The sound amplifiers in his helmet activated and highlighted the pitter pattering of PH's heavy boots across the hall. A sudden flurry of blaster fire erupted, nearly deafening the commandos. He winced in pain as the other commando quickly took lead with her rifle at the ready and charged forward into the battle.

When they reached PH, she was surrounded by the bodies of traitorous Stormtroopers and a huge metal door that had been braced shut.

"Don't do that. Ever again. You cost us a good soldier back there rookie," said the commando as he pushed PH. PH stood her ground and stared at him silently as she brought a finger up to her lips. "Maybe you're just not as good as they say. Show me what you got and cover the entrance."

PH glued her ear to the door as she listened for activity. The other two commando stared in confusion as PH muttered "Five…no eight."

"What the hell are you doing idiot, move aside. I'm taking command here," said one of the commandos as he turned up the amplifier on his helmet and walked toward the door. "I don't hear anything in there. You, move up with a det pack and you, set up next to her to cover our ass. We're blowing the door."

"So much for the silent approach. Aren't commandos supposed to be good at that?" PH said.

"Shut up already!" whined a commando as she frantically wired the explosive.

"You already lost your commander…do they let anyone through the academy now?"

The command barked back, "We can leave you to die here on this rock you know."

PH smirked. "You'd be failing your mission you know."

The lead commando scoffed and shook his head fretfully. Just as the other commando had finished setting up the explosive, the lead commando set up next to his companion and took cover behind rusting metal beams and aimed his blaster at the door.

"You sure you wanna do this?" whined PH as she slowly shifted her blaster at the door.

The door was suddenly transformed into a molten wreck that blew chunks of rock from the walls. Out of the smoke, blaster fire ionized the air around the three as they hurriedly cowered for cover, with the commandos wondering if the explosion had set off ammunition on the other end.  
PH quickly jumped up and fired back, dropping two rebel stormtroopers. The commandos quickly got their bearings soon after and mowed down the remaining rebel troops.

As they entered the smoky room, eight bodies covered the dusty floors.

The commandos looked down at the bodies and stared at PH in awe.

PH gave a quick glance at the corpses and continued coolly walking down the dark hall. "So we're just gonna stand here now?" Nobody responded either out of sheer awe or embarrassment. "  
I'll take over from here, buddy," said PH as she passed the commando and patted his shoulder board.

*******

Penko stood in a makeshift prison cell carved out of the dense, slimy rocks of the cavern flanked by two stormtroopers. His prisoner was none other than his old colleague, Piel. Nearly unrecognizable with a bloodied face, Piel's face cowered down as his body was held up with chains and shackles so he could reach Penko's height.

Penko remarkably still towered over Piel despite the contraption and motioned for the stormtroopers to bring a torture droid. As they ascended toward another hallway, the dim lights in the cavern system quickly became bright again. Piel looked around in confusion and awoke in an unfamiliar room. The bodies of native Boz Pitians and other unfortunate dissenters lined the cells.

"I hate to see you like this old friend. But I need to know who sent your fleet here and why. I lost a lot of friends today."

"Spare me the waterworks. Don't bother asking me anything," garbled Piel.

Penko's thin wrinkled face gave a chilling, somber look.  
"It won't be me asking the questions next time. I don't want to hurt you anymore." Penko looked back at the barbaric torture tools on the desk that had been soaked in Piel's blood.  
"Be honorable and lets have a civil discussion before things get complicated between us to say the least."

"Man that's rich. Traitorous mongrels like you can't have peace or stability in this galaxy, all you care about is your next paycheck. Your honor died well before you had me chained up here and asked for a 'civil' discussion."

"That's just how the Empire does business, haven't you forgotten? Or has your soft spot for scoundrels and the like gotten to you? I must admit, you've resisted much more than I had anticipated…even rogue Jedi have perished during my…questionnaires. Truly, your time as a Storm Commando served you well."

I'm no stinking Jedi…I'm a proud Imperial. With a lot more damn experience doing the duty of the Emperor than all of your clowns in armor put together. Can't say the same about you either."

"Are you blind? Look around you Piel, there has never been nor ever will be peace in this forsaken galaxy. Credits and blood make this galaxy go round, not false morals or inflated egos with a sense of duty. Money is power and power is freedom Piel. That is why the Jedi fell, why Vader fell. and that is why your 'Emperor' fell. Only the Emperor truly understood that, yet he also fell victim to his archaic religious dogma. No practicality in their lives, all superstition. I do what I have to do to survive in this dreadful galaxy of scum and false prophets."

"The Emperor's wisdom will guide us to victory, you know that. You've fallen for Rebel propaganda."  
Penko, taken aback by Piel's statement quickly recovered with a smile.

"He was probably the worst false prophet of them all. Again I must ask, who sent you? That's all I want to know…for now." said Penko as he began pacing around the cell.

"The ISB. You're finished Penko," said Piel as he raised his head confidently.

"Interesting how this is all playing out…. but don't lie to me."

"Another sick game Penko?"

"Yes but not one orchestrated by me, unfortunately. I need your help Azvan. There is someone, at this very moment, consolidating power among the Grand Moffs and it's not our…beloved Emperor."

"I won't help a defector to the Alliance. What are you even talking about?!" growled Piel as he spit blood out of his mouth.

The clanking on the metal floor indicated the return of Penko's Stormtroopers with a menacing black orb following them.

Penko quickly shooed them off. "Take the droid and wait for me at the entrance."  
The troopers quickly returned to their post.  
"Now where were we?" Penko clasped his hands. "You have no idea what is going on. But let me give you a hint, whoever is giving you orders isn't the ISB."

"What makes you say that?"

"I can tell you, but whether you believe me is totally up to you," said Penko as he looked back at a strange box on the far end of the room.

Piel lifted his head. "Well?"

"There is no real easy way to say this and believe me, I couldn't believe it when—"

"-Get it over with Penko."

"For all intents and purposes, the Rebels have won this war. Now do you understand the balance of power? Why I've joined them?"

"No! Impossible!" screamed Piel in agony.

"The 'Empire' is imploding on itself. There is no ISB. There is no Vader. And there is definitely no Death Star. The Emperor is no more. As we speak, your Outer Rim fleets are being pulled out to hold Core Worlds against joining the Alliance…and are failing miserably might I add. That's all I know."

"The Moffs would never abandon the Core worlds like that!"

"It's true, I heard from Moff Junta herself. The other fleets that had originally be in the Core Regions have abandoned their posts completely, being led by damn Moff fools that think they'll be able to hold their own sectors of space on their own. Perhaps they think they could retake Corusant on their own? Who knows."

Piel's voice trembled slightly. "Retake?! So then who is leading the troops now?"

A sudden thud at the door startled the two as they stared in anticipation at the door. Penko held his pistol toward the door as his stare slowly melted back to Piel.

"Whoever sent you to get me. And whoever that is doesn't want anyone to know what I've just told you."

"You're basing this all on anecdotes. You won't convince anyone of this."

"The Emperor failed. Normally I would have let you hear the ISB distress signal that was supposed to be sent out to all fleets, but Junta's fleet was the only one close enough to receive it. Hano's hooligans destroyed her ship as she tried to contact you all. Thanks for that. uckily she did give me that." Penko pointed to the mysteriously grey magnetically sealed box in the corner.

"And that would be?"

"Proof. All the proof you need. This is where I need to trust you. I need you to take me back as a free man to Hano. Only then, I will tell you everything …and show you the truth."

Piel hesitated. Another thud could be heard from the door, this time louder. And followed by distant blaster fire.

"What's it gonna be?" snickered Penko anxiously.

"How about we wait until my troops get here to decide that," replied Piel as he smiled.

Suddenly the two Trandoshians blew through the door, lighting the jail in a flurry of blaster fire.

"You scoundrels, I've given you your pay! I have your bounty already!" said Penko as he drew his pistol and took cover behind a desk.

Bossk lifted his rifle. "You right we finish job but we here for another," he grumbled.

"I'm worth more alive, I assure you. I can pay you much more that whatever the bounty is, you have my word," pleaded Penko.

Bossk calmly approached as he kicked the pistol from Penko's trembling hands.  
"We not just here for you idiot. Give the box and we send you in alive. Good plan."

"I wouldn't call being surrounded by loyal Imperial soldiers and ships a good plan. And that goes for all of you here," interjected Piel.

The Trandoshians ignored him as they picked up the box and began walking toward him with the box. As Bossk exited with rifle and box in hand, a tense silence overcame the room. As the other Trandoshian paced around in an attempt to get any other souvenirs, the silence and uncertainty nearly drove Piel mad. He could hear the sweat dripping from Penko's forehead as well as the blood spilling onto the grimy floor directly below him.

Suddenly, Penko exploded upwards and desperately raised his hand in a failed attempt to get his pistol. The other Trandoshian crawled like an animal over a sea of tables and hardware and slammed Penko's face on the ground and held him in a headlock as he carried him away. 

Piel watched in desperation as Penko's screamed were muffled by the thick dry hands of the Trandoshian. "Penko! Damn it Penko!" yelled Piel as he desperately tried clawing and thrusting about to get out of his shackles. Silence once again overcame the room. Piel let his body relax to give his mind enough energy to think clearly enough to find a way out of his cell…or else.


End file.
